But Beautiful (song)
Encyclopedia
"But Beautiful" is a popular
song
with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1947
.
One of five songs written by Burke and Van Heusen featured in the Paramount Pictures
movie Road to Rio
(1947), it was introduced by Bing Crosby
and is also associated with his leading lady Dorothy Lamour
. The original key is G major and has the form A-B1-A-B2. It is usually performed as a ballad.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1947
1947 in music
-Events:*August 7 – Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania.*October – Enrico De Angelis leaves Quartetto Cetra to join the army...
.
One of five songs written by Burke and Van Heusen featured in the Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
movie Road to Rio
Road to Rio
Road to Rio is a 1947 comedy film, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby as Scat Sweeney, Bob Hope as "Hot Lips" Barton, and Dorothy Lamour as Lucia Maria de Andrade. It was the fifth of the "Road to …" series.-Plot:...
(1947), it was introduced by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and is also associated with his leading lady Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
. The original key is G major and has the form A-B1-A-B2. It is usually performed as a ballad.
Other Versions
- Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
- The Very Thought of YouThe Very Thought of You (Nat King Cole album)The Very Thought of You is a 1958 album by Nat King Cole, arranged by Gordon Jenkins. -Track listing:# "The Very Thought of You" – 3:48# "But Beautiful" – 3:27# "Impossible" – 3:09...
(1958) - In 1998, Shawn ColvinShawn ColvinShawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
sang the song for AT&TAT&TAT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
's concert for the benefit of the Walden Woods Project and The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, which was released on the album Stormy Weather. - Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
released at version in 1957 on her Day by Day album. - Aretha FranklinAretha FranklinAretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
- from "Soft and BeautifulSoft and BeautifulSoft and Beautiful is a 1969 album by Aretha Franklin. The album comprised mostly previously unreleased material, recorded in the mid-1960s before Franklin moved to Atlantic Records. It reached Number 29 on Billboards R&B chart...
" (1969) - The Four FreshmenThe Four FreshmenThe Four Freshmen is a multiple Grammy-nominated American male vocal band quartet that blends open-harmony jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires , The Pied Pipers , and The Mel-Tones , founded in the barbershop tradition...
- Voices In Latin/The Freshmen Year (2001). - Johnny HartmanJohnny HartmanJohn Maurice Hartman was an American bass jazz singer who specialized in ballads and earned critical acclaim, though he was never widely known. He recorded a well-known collaboration with the saxophonist John Coltrane in 1963 called John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, and was briefly a member of...
recorded the song for his 1958 album, And I Thought About You. - Billie HolidayBillie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
- Lady in SatinLady in SatinLady in Satin is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday released in 1958 on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1157 in mono and CS 8048 in stereo. It is the next to final album completed by the singer and released in her lifetime...
(1958). - Shirley HornShirley HornShirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist.-Biography:Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music...
recorded the song for her 1989 Verve album, Close Enough For Love. - Freddie HubbardFreddie HubbardFrederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
recorded the song for his 1960 album, Open SesameOpen Sesame (Freddie Hubbard album)Open Sesame is the debut album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard released on the Blue Note label in 1960 as BST 84040. It features performances by Hubbard, Tina Brooks, McCoy Tyner, Sam Jones and Clifford Jarvis...
. - Carmen McRaeCarmen McRaeCarmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
- Torchy/Blue Moon (1999). - Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
recorded the song for her album The Movie AlbumThe Movie AlbumThe Movie Album is the 60th album released by Barbra Streisand. The album is made up of 12 songs newly recorded by Streisand which were previously featured in films.- Track listing :...
(2003). - In 2006, an album titled But BeautifulBut Beautiful (Stan Getz & Bill Evans album)But Beautiful is a jazz album by musicians Stan Getz and Bill Evans, released in 1996.-History:Recorded live on August 9, 1974 during the Laren International Jazz Festival at the Singer Concertzaal located in Laren, Holland and on August 16, 1974 during Jazz Middelheim held in Antwerp, Belgium,...
was released that featured live recordings by Bill EvansBill EvansWilliam John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
and Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
made in 1974. The album includes a version of the Burke/Van Heusen standard. - Tex BenekeTex BenekeGordon Lee Beneke , professionally known as Tex Beneke, was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gorme...
- 1947, with Garry Stevens, vocal.